American actress, singer, and writer Carol Creighton Burnett rose to fame with a comedy variety show which was one of the first shows to be hosted by a woman, named The Carol Burnett Show and was originally aired on CBS.
| Category | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Carol Creighton Burnett |
| Date of birth | April 26, 1933 |
| Place of birth | San Antonio, Texas, USA |
| Education | UCLA (dropped out) |
| Career highlights | Comedian, actress, writer, singer, producer |
| Notable works | The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978), Annie (1982), Noises Off (1992), Horton Hears a Who! (2008) |
| Awards | 25 Primetime Emmy nominations, 6 wins; 5 Golden Globe nominations, 1 win; 2 Tony nominations |
| Personal life | Married three times (Don Saroyan, Joe Hamilton, Brian Miller); mother of three daughters |
| Philanthropy | Established the Carol Burnett Fund for Responsible Journalism at the University of Hawaii; supports numerous charities focused on children’s health and education |
The daughter of Joseph Thomas Burnett, a movie theatre manager, and Ina Louise Burnett, a publicity writer, Carol Creighton Burnett was born in San Antonio, Texas, on April 26, 1933. William Henry Creighton and Mabel Eudora “Mae” Jones were her maternal grandparents. Burnett created a fictional twin sister named Karen when she was in the second grade and acted as Karen by switching dresses. Later on, when she grew tired of it she made Karen mysteriously vanish. Her mother could play the ukulele, and her grandma was a trained musician who could play the piano. She first intended to pursue journalism at UCLA in 1951 when she got an unidentified letter containing $50 for one year’s tuition. She had graduated from Hollywood High School. She shifted her attention from journalism to theatre arts and English, though, with the intention of becoming a playwright and so she discontinued from UCLA.
Carol Burnett arrived in New York to pursue her acting career, but after a year of working as a hat-check girl and failing to secure acting jobs, she and other girls living at the Rehearsal Club staged The Rehearsal Club Revue in March 1955. They invited agents and celebrities, which opened doors for them. She landed a minor role on The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show, which led to her starring role in Stanley. Burnett became popular as a performer in cabarets and nightclubs, and in 1959, she was nominated for a Tony Award for her appearance on Broadway in Once Upon a Mattress. She also became a regular player on The Garry Moore Show and won an Emmy Award for her outstanding performance. She later appeared in a variety show, The Entertainers, and developed a close friendship with Jim Nabors.
In 1967, Carol Burnett was offered a weekly comedy series by CBS called Here’s Agnes, but she had a stipulation in her contract that gave her five years from the end of The Garry Moore Show to host thirty-one-hour episodes of a music/comedy variety show. Thus, The Carol Burnett Show was born and ran from September 1967 to 1978. The show’s success surprised many and drew in 30 million viewers in a 2001 retrospective. Burnett also starred in a few films and made occasional returns to the stage. She was the first celebrity to appear on Sesame Street and voiced various characters in animated films.
American actress and comedian Carol Burnett wed her college sweetheart Don Saroyan in 1955, although the couple later separated in 1962. In 1963, she wed television producer Joe Hamilton, and the two went on to have three daughters. However, the difficulty of dealing with their daughter Carrie’s drug issues caused their marriage to end in divorce in 1984. Then, in 2001, Burnett wed Brian Miller. She remained close friends with Lucille Ball, Beverly Sills, Jim Nabors, Julie Andrews, and Betty White throughout her career. She has also donated to UCLA and University of Hawaii scholarship programs to support deserving students. Burnett and her husband filed a petition in August 2020 asking for guardianship of their adolescent grandson.
More entertainment News: